New captain, same old frailties. Faced with a challenging, although not impossible target of 267. England were blown away, offering no more resistance than a fading dandelion in the breeze. They lost by 51 runs.

Kevin Pietersen, brisk and businesslike in the field, could make no impact with the bat as the Kiwis marched off with the one-day honours once again. Three months ago in New Zealand, they won the series 3-1; they have done the same here, supposedly with a weaker side.

England are making no progress in this form of the game, except that the selectors are becoming ever more mindful of the frailties of their line-up. Those frailties are most obvious among the batsmen. It now seems no target is so small that it won't cause palpitations in the England dressing room.

It was the same old story. Several players got starts, some of them looked rather polished in their stroke-play, but none could go on to play the decisive innings. Most notably, Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara stroked a few boundaries with a silky touch. But neither could get beyond 30. Alastair Cook, back in the team in place of Paul Collingwood, hit a scratchy 24, while Owais Shah was left with too much to do.

This was a minor triumph for the Kiwis after a long, arduous tour. It is a great credit to Daniel Vettori that his team remained highly motivated until the end, although he may like to thank Collingwood and his lack of judgment at the Oval for his help in ensuring that the New Zealanders were so resolute here. Vettori, who duped Bopara and then the hapless Tim Ambrose (10 runs in the series in five innings) all too easily, was England's chief bowling tormentor yesterday.

The only consolations for England came in the first half of the match - under Pietersen's direction they bowled their overs in good time. So some progress there. We witnessed no contentious incidents to prompt Kiwis to make comparisons with underarm bowling in February 1981 - as propelled by Trevor Chappell - or the English to remind one and all of the more recent run-out of Muttiah Muralitharan, while celebrating Kumar Sangakkara's century - a wicket claimed by the venerated Stephen Fleming when New Zealand were playing the Sri Lankans in December 2006. After the Oval, this was rather a decorous affair.

Pietersen was in charge and the game seemed in safe hands. He switched the bowlers deftly - maybe Shah had one over too many, but with his two-pace run-up, at least the occasional off-spinner kept that over rate healthy. To set their target the Kiwis had to accelerate vigorously at the end, firstly through Jacob Oram, then Scott Styris. The tourists hit 65 from their last six overs and there wasn't much that Pietersen could do about that.

There had been no eye-catching gimmicks or flourishes from England's latest captain and much commonsense. The team appeared purposeful and organised in the field, although far from flawless. Ambrose dropped a regulation skier (already the debate about wicketkeepers is renewed) and two trickier chances - to Bopara and Bell - went down.

England scarcely missed the leadership skills of the chastened Paul Collingwood, although they may have pined for his bowling nous, since their fifth 'bowler' - an amalgam of Luke Wright, Bopara and Shah - yielded 72 runs. Now Collingwood, in a wretched week, must wait to see whether he retains his Test place (that squad is announced on Thursday). Perversely, his recent travails might help him. The current selectors are disinclined to knock a man while he's down. They may well choose to trust the man rather than his form.

So England's efforts in the field were relatively impressive and well marshalled by captain Pietersen. However, the crux for England - and Pietersen - is whether the new captain can bat with the same force when he is in charge of operations. Yesterday he could not. It may be that Pietersen was trying to be too responsible, that he was too determined to shepherd his England home with the minimum of risk. He batted 23 balls, without ever looking in much trouble, for his six runs.

But the dilemma for England is that they should not want Pietersen to be responsible. Opposition fear him not because of his watertight defence, but because he has the ability to shred any attack. It is too early to say, but if the captaincy were to cause Pietersen to bat with a new clinical caution then he is better off without his fresh responsibilities. He is a batsman who needs licence.

So England's response to their run-chase was typically infuriating. Bell began his innings looking sharp. Perhaps he would react to a new captain and enhanced responsibilities by producing a watershed innings, in which he dictated the course of the match. Perhaps not.

Shuffling across his crease he was lbw to the effervescent Mark Gillespie. Cook edged a low-bouncing delivery from Tim Southee, who was narrowly awarded the man of the series in his first ODI outings, and soon Pietersen cut to backward point without causing the Kiwis any headaches. Bopara hinted at an innings of substance as England posted their 100 in the 25th over. But he could not deliver either.

So Shah was left, not for the first time, to flail away as best he could, but it was all in vain. For Pietersen, the cigar remained unlit.